Cowboys Source: Dalton Signing Not 'Meant as Threat' to QB Dak

Dallas Cowboys Source Tells SI: Andy Dalton Signing Is Not 'Meant as Threat' to Unsigned QB Dak Prescott

FRISCO - Andy Dalton is coming home to DFW - but the long-time Cincinnati Bengals starter is not coming to the Dallas Cowboys as a threat to unsigned Dak Prescott, a source tells CowboysSI.com.

This signing of (Dalton) is not about Dak's (contract),'' the source told us on Saturday, shortly after agreeing to a deal that has a base value of $3 million and could be worth up to $7 million.

Dalton was selected by the Bengals in the second round of the 2011 Draft after having starred at TCU. Various reports inaccurately suggest his only home base is Fort Worth; in fact, the Dalton family owns a home in University Park, making them a virtual neighbor of the Jones family.

And how he's a neighbor - in the same QB room - as Prescott.

Dalton, 32, was a candidate to be a starter elsewhere in the NFL following his Thursday release from the Bengals, who are turning the page to LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, who they just selected with the No. 1 overall pick last week in the NFL Draft. Dalton could've also chosen to stay in Cincy as a backup.

But he'll now have that role in Dallas behind Prescott - assuming Dak eventually either signs his franchise-tag tender of $31 million for one year or comes to a long-term agreement with Dallas that can pay him in the range of $35 million APY over at least four years.

Conspiracy theorists are already suggesting that the Cowboys are ready to change QBs; again, that's not the plan, according to their own words. If that plan changes? It would take a high level of disgruntlement between Prescott and the Cowboys, pushing right to the July 15 deadline to extend, for the two parties to pull the plug on one another. And the Joneses, in deed and words, are making their commitment to Prescott pretty clear.

In nine seasons with the Bengals, Dalton had a 70-61-2 record and helped them to the postseason in each of his first five years. In Dallas - where spending this sort of money for a backup is uncharacteristic - he figures to leap-frog over present backup Cooper Rush (and youngsters Clayton Thorson and Ben DiNucci and to serve as an "elite bus driver'' should he have to fill in for Prescott.